Nineteenth century pop culture critic Jebidiah Atkinson’s withering criticism aside (”Saturday Night Live… the same tired characters repeating the same tired catchphrases. NEXT!”), this week’s offering was one of SNL40’s best, largely because host Michael Keaton is a comic acting wonder…on a par with his film comedy forebear, Buster…who, predictably, Jebidiah Atkinson HATED in Sherlock Jr.

Others have speculated on Keaton’s decade and half-long “absence” from the film comedy firmament (he worked after Jack Frost, but most of us shielded our eyes soon thereafter). However, the apparent drought between Batman and Birdman was not for lack of genius-level comic instincts. Keaton is that r...